FirstLight Fiber of Albany is once again looking to Canada to expand its fiber optic networking business.

The company, which only a few months ago changed its name from Tech Valley Communications, is partnering with a Montreal company called Fibernoire to provide cross-border Ethernet services to companies.

Fibernoire appears to be a lot like FirstLight Fiber, which has its own fiber optic networks here in New York and in parts of New England. Fibernoire also has its own fiber optic network and services Quebec and Ontario.

Ethernet is a secure network used by companies to transfer data between offices. It is also a way that those same companies often connect to the more public Internet.

Both companies say the arrangement helps them span the U.S.-Canadian border without having to physically expand, although FirstLight does have fiber in Quebec that it acquired through its purchase last year of TelJet, a Burlington, Vt., telecom.

Patrick Coughlin, senior vice president of sales and marketing of FirstLight, said that the partnership — terms of which were not disclosed — helps ensure that it doesn't have to "stop at the border" when it comes to offering networking services to its customers.

"This comes at the most opportune time, as bandwidth demand between the U.S. and Canada continues to increase across a variety of industries, including finance, gaming, media and more," Coughlin said.

FirstLight Fiber owns 190,000 fiber "miles" that make up its fiber optic network. The company is backed by Riverside Partners, a Boston private equity firm that has pumped millions of dollars into the business as it has expands in New York and New England.